4-27-2013 USMS National 5K OW Champs Miromar Lakes

It was a beautiful day, and the lake was just awesome to swim in. In the 2012 version of this 5K OW swim there were about 50 masters swimmers, and for the 2013 USMS National 5K OW Championhips the participation list was over 120. While not a large OW event compared to major metro areas, it was a very good interstate draw for this area. My family and I took a trip to see my uncle in the Keys afterwards, so I was not able to make the event report until now.

I placed 2nd in masters men 55-59 and 20/65 overall of masters men. While the head wind on the longest length of the course was a factor for all of us, I somehow just did not have the same kind of energetic swim I had last year, as my arms ached during the most of the first two laps. Several spectators said I made a strong effort on the third lap passing 8 swimmers in the last half of the final lap. One of my occasional training partners who is in the 40-44 age group that I tend to be slightly faster in LCM 100/200 repeats in our workouts together at FGCU, swam this 5K about 6-7 minutes faster.

Honestly, I was slightly disappointed, but I am in participating in Masters Swimming for the long term and it is just one swim. It will all balance out by participating in more kinds of swimming events, enjoying what Masters Swimming has to offer in terms of training, friendships, and competitive opportunities. On reflection, there are some variables to consider that may have some minor significance between last year and this year's performance, but I am really not going to over analyze, rather just keep going forward from this point.

I really want to thank all you USMS forumites for such great encouragement and support, and who have helped me to become a better swimmer in the short time I have started training, blogging and participating in the USMS forums.